Road to Happiness
by shallen17
Summary: Kuon is a reminder of the incident that happen to Kyoko in the past. After five years to forget everything, he come back to her life and plan to make it permanent.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**

Kuon is a reminder of the incident that happen to Kyoko in the past. After five years to forget everything, he come back to her life and plan to make it permanent.

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

Kuon stopped the car near the pier. He had a feeling that he needed to be here. He leaned his head back on the seat as he waited for something. He had no idea what it would be, just that he needed to be here. Over the years he had learned to trust his gut feelings, even if they tended to be very very vague.

I guess it's called a 'gut' feeling for a reason, he mused to himself with a smile as vague as this feeling. He had been there for nearly an hour when he heard it. A small shuffle. The pier was in the dilapidated warehouse district, and over here, any noise meant trouble. Not that Kuon minded trouble. He was bored. He slowly exited the car. Just because he was bored did not mean he was also stupid. He would never be an easy target.

The shuffle came again, and his eyes narrowed on the corner of a warehouse. Someone was coming around the corner, and they were trying to be quiet. He slowly slinked closer, using his car for cover. He was really close to the corner, when the person finally came around it, and Kuon stilled. He had been expecting a mugger, or some other sort of criminal lowlife.

He had not expected this. He had not expected her.

She nearly collided with him, before realizing that he was here. Her mouth opened to cry out, and she clapped a hand over it, her golden brown eyes were wide and terror filled as she glanced behind her, before her gaze swung back to meet his.

He allowed his gaze to move from her face to her feet, cataloguing the bruises, the wounds, the torn nails, the rope burns, her feet were bare, she was dressed in a filthy blanket, and he had a feeling nothing was under it. Her eyes were hollowed, like she had been starved, her lips broken and bleeding.

Kuon swore softly before looking around. No one was following the girl. Yet.

He looked back at her. She had frozen, but he knew that it was deceptive. She was just bidding her time and conserving her energy for the fight she thought was coming.

Kuon pointed to her, and then back at his car. He saw her eyes widen in disbelief. Without a word, he slipped his gun free of the ankle holster, showed to her that it was loaded, and placed it in her hand. She looked at him again, and he saw a glimmer of hope there. He pointed to the car again, and she nodded. They moved silently, still crouching, and Kuon keeping an eye for anyone who might be following her.

He slid into the car the same time as she did, and then he burned rubber as he peeled out of there. He glanced at her once they were out on the highway. She was huddling in her seat, trying to hide below the window, and she was clutching the 9mm Beretta he had given her to her chest, her grip on it so tight that her knuckles were turning white.

"Hospital?" he asked gently and she jumped. Her gaze again filled with panic.

"No hospital then." he said in that same gentle tone.

"Why?" she whispered, her voice broken. Broken the way voices broke when you screamed too much for too long.

Kuon shrugged. "If you ever saw anyone is such shape, would you not help them?" he asked and saw her huddle deeper into the seat.

"I am taking you to my place. You at least need first aid. Lots of it." He told her and she flinched, but did not argue.

"Think of it this way, unless I am a serial killer, you'll be fine. You're in no shape to do anything else to you." He pointed out and she gave him an incredulous look before a hint of a smile showed in her eyes.

She was still huddled when he turned into the driveway of his house. He pulled into the garage, something he tended not to do usually but he could hardly let anyone catch sight of her, and was already at her door before the garage door had fully closed behind them. He opened the car door for her but waited for her to step out. She slowly did, her expression filled with pain.

"Can I carry you?" he asked her quietly and she looked at him for a long minute before finally nodding, though he had seen her clench her jaw in fear. He picked her up as gently as he could but he could feel the fear and pain travelling through her body.

Kuon moved into the house, cradling her close. He carried her straight through the house to his room, and then through that to his bathroom.

He gently set her down on the bench he had in there, and knelt in front of her. His face was careful, and he knew that she was still holding the gun he had given her like a lifeline.

"I need to clean you before I can deal with the wounds." He said softly and she nodded. Her eyes were filled with terror, but she was trying to trust him. Trying to let him help her.

"Bath or shower?" he asked. He knew it had to be a bath, but he would let her choose. She needed at least a semblance of control.

"I can't stand." She whispered, and he nodded and turned from her and quickly ran the bath.

"I am going to take this off." He pointed to the blanket, he saw her fear increase.

"Keep the gun." he told her and he saw her get more control of her fear.

Kuon felt his fury build as he took away the blanket she had used to dress herself. She was even more battered than he had initially thought, and that had already been too damned much. She allowed him to strip her, and then lower her into the bath. She hissed in pain as the water made contact with the wounds on her body but that was the only reaction she gave. He efficiently and quickly cleaned her from head to toe, and even washed her hair, before picking her out of the bath. He dried her quickly, but thoroughly and then wrapped a towel around her.

Then he proceeded to bandage her. She had so many wounds. She had been whipped, and beaten, and hurt in more ways than he could count. The haze of his fury was only held back because he knew he would scare her and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

She was leaning against the wall as he finished. He slipped into his closet and grabbed the first shirt there and came back to her. He helped her into it, and then carried her to the bed. He tucked her in, and she looked at him with eyes she could not keep open anymore, and yet he saw her fear of sleeping, of not being able to keep an eye on her surroundings.

"I'll be here." He told her as he pulled a chair and sat facing the bed. Slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes closed, and she finally slept.

* * *

 **Five** **Years** **Later**

 **Kyoko's POV**

* * *

I jerked awake and blinked blearily. Everything was in place; no one was looming over me, so why had I woken up so suddenly at, check the clock, 5 AM on a Saturday morning? There was something terribly wrong with this picture.

Then I heard it again. A great rumble of sound coming from outside. I jumped out of bed and ran to the window only to realize that my bedroom window looked out the back of the house, and therefore over the river, and I could see nothing but pretty scenery from here.

I stalked to the living room window grumbling about my own stupidity. I peeked out of the curtains and saw the monster of a truck that was the cause of ruining my well deserved sleep. Someone was finally moving into the two storey Victorian house next to mine, but I wish they had done so at a decent hour. I considered going out and letting them have it but it would be too much of a bother. Not to mention I wanted to get along with my neighbours usually, not slaughter them verbally.

I sighed and walked to the kitchen and got the coffee started, and then I went for a quick shower. I dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a sea green tank top. Then I finally got my caffeine fix and smiled in bliss. With one full cup of coffee in me, I was willing to forgive me new neighbours their bad timing, and so I filled my mug with more coffee and headed to the front door.

I had just stepped out when I heard his voice and came to a standstill. Over the years, there were times when I thought I had heard him, or glimpsed him, and I had been wrong every single time. But my heart was thudding in panic, and there was no denying that voice. As I stared, the man, I refused to believe it washim turned towards me. He was not looking at me, not even close, but his face was now in the right direction, and I could see him. It was him.

After five years he had finally found me. I took a step back, even as he started to turn completely towards me. It took everything I had to not run into the house but keep it only a brisk walk.

He was here.

I had to leave.

I placed down the coffee mug, the coffee sloshing onto the table cause my hands were shaking too badly. I made myself take deep breaths. He had not seen me. He could not know I was here. If he did, he would be here, in my house, not moving in next door.

So he had no clue I was here.

I took another deep breath. I was safe for now.

So, was I going to destroy the life I had built and leave?

I stared at the house around me. It was a single storey ranch style house, but it was my home. I loved it. I had secured it so that I could sleep peacefully, finally. It was my sanctuary. Would running away be worth leaving my home?

I sighed as I came to the answer. Even if he knew who I was, it would not be worth it to leave my home. It's not like I was in any danger from him physically. He would never hurt me, quite the opposite actually. He would protect me if he thought I was in any danger.

I expelled the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I was going to stay right where I was. I was done running away.

I jumped as a knock sounded on the front door. I whirled around to see him standing there, looking at me out of hooded eyes.

"I'm sorry, but the door was open." He drawled easily even as I felt my fear spike. Did he recognize me? His expression and voice were bland. Maybe he did not recognize me?

"I'm Kuon Hizuri. Your new neighbour. Sorry that we woke you up. It was either move now, or have my stuff on the streets for the whole weekend." He continued on blithely and I decided that he must not recognize me. I relaxed quite a bit.

"I'm Kyoko Mogami. It's okay, timing can't always be convenient." I answered and he nodded. I saw him glance at my coffee mug, and realized that I had to act natural. The more normal I was, the less likely he would be to associate me with the woman he had met five years ago.

"Would you like some coffee?" I asked and he nodded after giving me a surprised look. I allowed him to follow me into the kitchen and poured him coffee in a travel mug. I was willing to play normal but there was only so much my shot nerves could stand.

He took the coffee and the hint graciously and calmly walked back to the front door.

"Thanks." He said raising the mug.

"No Problem." I shrugged and he nodded before turning to leave. Then he turned his head and gave me a look over his shoulder that I did not understand before a small smile curled on his lips.

"I won't let you run from me again." He said softly before he headed out, closing the front door quietly behind himself. I felt my knees buckle.

He knew who I was. He did remember. He recognized me, and he had still played me.

That little rat bastard.

I grabbed the closest thing, a small dolphin statue, and threw it at the door where it shattered and I wish I had been able to throw it at him.

* * *

 **Normal POV**

* * *

Kuon grinned as he heard something hit the front door and shatter behind him. She must be furious, he thought to himself as he sipped his coffee while walking leisurely to where his things were being moved in. He knew he could have handled it better, but once she had retreated into the house after one glimpse of him, all he could think of was how to make sure she did not run again.

So he had gone to see her, willing to use any means necessary to get her to agree to not run. But she had thrown him off his game as he had watched her compose herself. He could see the decision in her posture, in her body language; she was not going to run.

He had not been able to stop himself from lulling her into a sense of security, just like he could not stop himself from throwing the reminder that he did remember her over his shoulder.

If he did not get his control together and stopped trying to get under her skin, she was going to shoot him and put him out of her misery. He grinned again. He was looking forward to it.

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 **see you next chapter...**


	2. Chapter 2

I thought this story not gonna get more fave than my **"His Obsession".**

But, thank you for the support. I hope this chapter make you like my story more..

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

 **Two Weeks Later**

Kyoko was baking and she was studiously ignoring Kuon who was mowing the lawn in his backyard, without a shirt.

She was most definitely not stealing covert glances at him. Nope, most definitely not.

Kyoko scowled even more as she pulled out the tray with the bread and put in the next tray, which was filled with cinnamon rolls. She looked around for something to do while they were baked but came up zero. She had already baked everything else, and made the glaze for the rolls. She looked up again and he was gone. She blew out a breath in relief, and then jumped when she heard the knock on the back door.

She slowly turned and yup, there he was, standing just outside the door she had deliberately left open to let in the fresh river breeze.

"Yes?" she asked him testily. His whole demeanour told her that he wanted something. At least he had pulled on a t-shirt.

"I came to apologize." He said calmly and she raised an eyebrow. He definitely wanted something and her forgiveness was not it.

"For what?" she asked him innocently. Two could play that game.

"For teasing you like that the day I moved here. I should have told you right from the start that I had recognized you." He said and Kyoko could not make herself doubt the sincerity in her voice. He had limited himself to waves since he had moved in, and this was the first time since then that they were actually talking.

"Forgiven." She answered and then waited.

"What would I have to do for some of your time?" he asked with a sigh and she fought back her smile.

She just raised an eyebrow and he gave her a crestfallen look, reading her answer in her demeanor.

"Come on in." She said finally as she turned away to hide the smile she could no longer hold back.

To her surprise, he somehow managed to put her completely at ease, and she had a good time chatting with him as if they were just regular neighbours. She had put away all the baking while talking to him and was cleaning the pans when he walked to the sink with his coffee mug.

Kyoko was surprised when he rinsed it and leaned around her to place it on the draining board. But something about the action triggered a panic attack. She felt her heart rate triple, and her knees started shaking. She tried to move away from him but he had noticed that something was wrong and already had a grip on her elbow, which was also the only thing keeping her on her feet.

"Kyoko what's wrong?" Kuon asked, his expression concerned, but he was too close. The panic was only escalating. She pushed him away and he let go, realizing that he was not helping. She sank to the floor, her head between her knees as she waited for it to pass.

He knelt in front of her, but he had no idea what to do. He wanted to pull her close but he knew that that would make it worse.

It took a while but Kyoko's breathing finally started slowing down, and the panicked gasps turned to shallow breaths. She opened her eyes and looked into his crimson eyes which were shadowed with worry.

"I..." she cleared her throat, "I'm fine." She murmured.

He nodded and then handed her a glass of water. She said nothing as she gulped it down and then handed it back to him.

"I triggered something by being too close." He said matter of factly.

She nodded. "I don't get them often now. It's been months since the last one."

"I'm sorry Kyoko" he said in that gentle tone that he used around her when he seemed to think that she was close to breaking.

Kyoko shook her head. "Not your fault. Could you... just let me be? I'll bring you some of my baking, and I will give you some of my time later."

Kuon opened his mouth to argue but then snapped it shut and after giving her a terse nod he left the house.

Kyoko dropped her head on her knees, tears finally slipping down her cheeks. She had thought that she had recovered. Maybe all that she had done was make sure that she stayed away from anything that might trigger her panic. She had just hidden from it all rather than deal with it and now she was realizing that you can only hide from your own feelings for so long.

* * *

Kyoko scowled at the man standing on her front porch. She hated salesmen and this one was seriously creeping her out. She did not allow strangers into her house and he seemed to be trying his damndest to come in. After the panic attack this morning, she was already off her balance and this guy was definitely not helping.

"Okay that's it!" she finally snapped. "I am not interested in buying anything. Please leave." Then she slammed the door in his face. She kinda felt bad about it, but she was not into trusting strangers, and most definitely not into letting them enter her house.

She strode to her office hoping that work would distract her from the day that was progressing from bad to worse.

She started working on the new plot for her new book, it was progressing but even that could not really make her stop thinking. She had stuffed her feelings away every time they had surfaced in the past five years but it seemed that they were coming out permanently now.

She leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes. It was all his fault. He was the one who had to make her remember because his mere presence made her feel secure enough that she somehow thought she could deal with the memories. She had read enough psychology to know what was going on, but not enough to know how to stop it or if it could be stopped. She had worked so hard to forget everything that had happened five years ago, but it was all coming back to her now. Ugh. What was she supposed to do now? Go see a shrink?

She would have done that years ago if it was something she could have done. She could not stand the thought of talking about what had happened and especially not to a stranger. But Kuon was bringing it all out again.

Someone rang the doorbell. Kyoko scowled and got up. Was she not even entitled to any peace? It had gotten dark while she had been working and now she peeked from the peep hole before opening the door. Kuon stood there, dressed in jeans and a white button down shirt. His hair was slicked back and he was holding a small basket.

She just raised her eyebrows instead of inviting him in.

Kuon grinned and she felt a smile tug at her own lips. It was so unfair. A guy should not be that good looking and have all that charm, and have such a grin. Totally unfair.

"You forgot to bring some of your baking around" He said innocently and she scowled at him, before moving aside to let him in.

He handed her the basket and then silently followed her to the kitchen where she proceeded to fill it with homemade bread, cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies. She liked baking and she usually baked too much for one person anyways.

"Would it be okay if I treated you to dinner for your time that you promised to me?" he asked easily as she handed him the basket.

Kyoko just stared at him.

"Don't look so worried, I'm not going to feed you my cooking." He told her blandly and she chuckled in spite of herself.

"Maybe sometime." She answered vaguely.

"But then the Italian I ordered for tonight will be wasted. There's only so much I can eat." He blinked innocently and Kyoko gaped at him. He was playing her.

"Kuon!" Kyoko exclaimed in part incredulity and part exasperation.

"So... would you like to come over now and I should wait for you to get ready? Or would you like to come over in like half an hour? Your choice." He said in a bland voice.

Kyoko shook her head. "I forgot that."

"Forgot what?" Kuon asked.

"Forgot how good you are at making me feel like I have a choice even when I don't." She said quietly and his lips thinned. She could see the old anger in his face, and she knew it was for her sake. That decided it for her.

"Gimme five minutes." She said as she walked into her bedroom.

* * *

"Pizza does not count as Italian." Kyoko told Kuon haughtily after they had had dinner and he was cleaning up. She was sitting on the chair with it tipped back on two legs.

"Of course it does." Kuon retorted.

"And you ordered it after I was already at your place." She continued.

"It was still delivered by the time I had the table set up." He answered.

"I cannot believe that I sat at the dining table, had good china and silverware, and then went ahead and ate pizza. I didn't even get to use the silverware." Kyoko chuckled and he shrugged.

"Do you even know how to cook?" Kyoko asked.

"I don't starve." He said with another shrug.

"I see that." Kyoko murmured and something in her tone made Kuon turn to look at her. He felt a lazy grin spread on his face as he saw that she was blatantly ogling him. He finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher and then slowly walked towards her.

Kyoko allowed the chair to fall back on all four legs with a loud clang. She had hoped that the sound would break the spell only to realize that she was too captivated for such mundane things to help.

He reached her and then gently stroked the side of her neck with his fingertips as if she were something very precious.

"Pretty Kyoko." He murmured and she leaned into his touch. As if that was a hidden signal, his other hand came up and cupped her cheek and he laid a chaste kiss on her lips.

"My Kyoko." He said mere inches from her.

Kyoko felt tears gather in her eyes but she held them back by sheer will power.

"Kuon..." she started but choked. She had no idea what to say.

He moved slightly until his cheek was pressed to hers, and she could feel the 5'o clock shadow rasping against her skin.

"I was there. I found you. I took you home. I took care of you. I know, love. I know. I'll never ask you for something that you can't give." He said, his breath caressing her throat.

Kyoko allowed her head to drop forward until her forehead rested on his shoulder.

"I am sorry." She whispered.

"You have never done me any wrong." He answered his voice absolute.

Kyoko turned her head and pressed her face to the side of his neck. He could feel her lips moving when she spoke. "I ran away from you."

"You were 16 and had just gone through hell. So you did not trust the stranger who had helped you. That is smart, not wrong." He told her.

"You found me." She said softly.

"Took me a while." He said his voice gravelly.

"Five years." She said and pressed closer to him. One of his arms went around her waist. Holding her gently. Careful, always so careful.

Neither of them spoke for a long while as they held each other. Finally Kyoko raised her head and looked at him. There was nothing but gentleness on his face. She moved closer and then laid a small kiss on the corner of his mouth. Then she gave him a smile filled with regret.

"I still can't..." she started to explain but he shook his head.

"Its okay, love. I can wait." He said softly before nipping her lightly on the nose.

Kyoko laughed at that, just as he had intended.

"Would you like to watch a movie or go home for the night?" he asked and she glanced outside the windows at the dark moonless night.

"Home, I think."

"Come on then." He said taking her hand. He walked her to her front door and held her hand for the 5 minute walk. Kyoko entered her house feeling surreal. She had touched a man tonight more than she had in the past five years combined.

She walked straight into her room and then flopped down on the bed. She did not know much about him except that he was usually armed, protective, and that he had saved her life. A small laugh escaped her as she realized that she did not even know what his profession was.

Oh well, she could always ask him later.

She was smiling even in her sleep that night.

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 **Don't forget to review after read this story please...**

 **See you again in the next chapter...**


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